Derulbaskul
Adventurer
And I should also add that I'll probably be using her in the not-too-distant future for a Epic level version of Dungeon 87's The Harrowing by Monte Cook (set in the Demonweb Pits).
Epic Evil (Eric's Grandma, stay out!) Latest: Mosquito Horror
- Thread starter Jolly Giant
- Start date
Jolly Giant
First Post
Go right ahead and use her, Derulbaskul! That's what she's there for... 
Jolly Giant
First Post
Ok, here comes that nasty shadowdancer I've been promising you! (Finally...)
I still need to do some background material etc. I promise I'll get around to it shortly. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy Shadowfangs as he is.
I still need to do some background material etc. I promise I'll get around to it shortly. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy Shadowfangs as he is.
Jolly Giant
First Post
Shadowfangs
Vampiric Great Wyrm Shadowdragon / Shadow Dancer 10
Gargantuan Undead (Extraplanar)
Hit Dice: 48d12+180 (573 hp)
Initiative: +10 (+6 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 80 ft., fly 150 ft. (average)
AC: 65 (-4 size, +6 Dex, +44 natural, +5 deflection, +4 Mage Armor)(touch 17, flatfooted 55)
Base attack/grapple: +45/+67
Attack: Claw +55 melee (4d6+12+energy drain, 19-20/x2),
Full attack: Bite +56 melee (4d8+14, 19-20/x2), 2 claws +56 melee (4d6+12+energy drain, 19-20/x2), 2 wings +55 melee (2d8+7), tailslap +55 melee (4d6+21)
Face/Reach: 20 ft./15 ft. (20 ft. with bite)
Special Attacks: Blood Drain, Breath Weapon, Charm, Create Spawn, Crush, Domination, Energy Drain, Frightful Presence, Spell-Like Abilities, Spells, Summon Shadow, Tail Sweep
Special Qualities: Dragon Traits, Undead Traits, Vampire Traits, Shadow Blend, Create Shadows, Shadowdancer abilities, Damage Reduction 20/magic, Fast Healing 5, Cold and Fire Resistance 20, Turn Resistance +4,
Saves: Fortitude +31, Reflex +41, Will +42
Abilities: Str 38, Dex 22, Con -, Int 38, Wis 37, Cha 49
Skills: Bluff +78, Climb +20, Concentration +60, Decipher Script +64 Diplomacy +64, Hide +56, Intimidate +64, Jump +54, Knowledge (Arcana) +55, Knowledge (Religion) +55, Knowledge (Planes) +55, Knowledge (Nature) +55, Listen +67, Move Silently +54, Perform (Dance) +63, Search +73, Sense Motive +60, Sleight of Hand +51, Spellcraft +38, Spot +67, Use Magic Device +60 (+68 for activating scrolls)
Feats: Alertness, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Multi-attack, Improved Multi-attack, Snatch, Improved Snatch, Improved Manoeuvrability x2, Improved SR x2, Improved Natural Armor, Quicken Super-natural Ability (Shadow Jump), Power Attack, Spell Knowledge, Ability Focus (Breath Weapon), Ability Focus (Frightful Presence), Weapon Focus (Bite), Weapon Focus (Claws), Improved Critical (Claws), Extend Spell, Mobility, Great Fortitude
Climate/Terrain: Plane of Shadow
Challenge Rating: 37
Treasure: Triple standard (but see Possessions)
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Possessions: Shadowfangs wears a ring on each of his front paws; a Ring of Protection +5 and a Ring of Resistance +5. Around his neck he wears a massive gold chain, with a giant black onyx pendant. The necklace is in fact an epic magic item, granting him a +8 enhancement bonus to charisma. (GP-value: 680.000, including 15.000gp for the gold chain and 25.000gp for the onyx gem.)
In addition to this comes his actual draconic hoard; consisting largely of gems and coins, with a few magical “trophies” from former victims, which has a total worth of 550.000gp.
Breath Weapon: Shadowfangs’ breath weapon is a 60 ft. cone of smoky, billowing shadows with an energy drain effect. All creatures caught in the cone gain 8 negative levels. A DC 55 reflex save reduces the number of negative levels to 4.
Create Shadows (su): Three times per day, Shadowfangs can conjure a mass of leaping shadows to a radius of 100 ft. and a duration of 1 hour. All normal and magical light sources are negated within this radius. All creatures within the area gain a +4 circumstance bonus to their Hide checks. Shadowfangs and other creatures from the Plane of Shadow gain total concealment within the shadows, though they can move and act normally. Their attacks gain a +2 bonus and deny their targets Dex to AC, because they are considered invisible.
Frightful Presence: Will DC 55 negates the effect.
Shadow Blend: In any condition other than full daylight, Shadowfangs can disappear into the shadows, gaining full concealment. Artificial illumination does not negate this ability, but a Daylight spell can.
Shadowdancer abilities: Shadowfangs has gained the following abilities from the Shadowdancer prestige class: Evasion, Improved Evasion, Hide In Plain Sight, Uncanny Dodge, Improved Uncanny Dodge, Shadow Jump 160 ft., Defensive Roll, Slippery Mind, Shadow Illusion. See the Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 195.
Spell-Like Abilities: Mirror Image 3/day, Non-detection 3/day, Dimension Door 2/day, Shadow Walk 1/day
Skills: Vampiric Dragons have +8 racial bonus to Bluff, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive and Spot checks.
Tail Sweep: 40 ft. radius, 2d8+21.
Vampire Traits: Shadowfangs, like all vampiric dragons, are slowed and can make only a single standard action or move action each turn, if exposed to sunlight. Driving a stake through his heart would destroy him instantly, but you’d need a pretty big stake…
He can not enter a home uninvited, but he might easily smash the house and then pick through the rubble for his victims.
Unlike normal vampires, Shadowfangs (and other vampiric dragons) are not injured by immersion in water, and he can freely cross running water. Nor does garlic or mirrors have any negative effect on him. Even so, there isn’t a single mirror to be found in his lair… He’s learned to cast Scry using a fountain of unholy water as focus (like an evil cleric), instead of the silver mirror normally used by arcane casters.
Spells: Shadowfangs casts spells as a level 17 sorcerer. As a shadowdragon he also has access to spells from the cleric spell-list, and from the Chaos, Evil and Trickery domains. Some of his known spells have been selected from those lists.
Spells per day: 6/11/11/11/10/10/10/10/8
Spells known:
Level 0: Detect Magic, Arcane Mark, Guidance, Prestidigitation, Ghost Sound, Open/Close, Mage Hand, Mending, Light
Level 1: Divine Favor, Protection from Good, Mage Armor, Identify, Shield
Level 2: Cat’s Grace, Invisibility, Owl’s Wisdom, Razorfangs*, Throw Voice
Level 3: Animate Dead, Arcane Sight, Deeper Darkness, Haste
Level 4: Dispelling Breath*, Divine Power, Rebuking Breath*, Wingbind*
Level 5: Draconic Polymorph*, Harm, Superior Magic Fang*, Teleport
Level 6: Analyze Dweomer, Antilife Shell, Antimagic Field
Level 7: Greater Scry, Hiss of Sleep*, Plane Shift, Spell Turning
Level 8: Enervating Breath, Mind Blanc, Trap the Soul
Description & Tactics
Shadowfangs didn’t grow to such great age by being reckless. His lair, well hidden on the Plane of Shadow, is full of traps, wards and undead guards. He makes sure to have Mage Armor cast on him at all times.
If he has the time to prepare for combat, Shadowfangs will cast the following spells on himself:
Haste (extended), Superior Magic Fang, Cat’s Grace, Razorfang, Divine Favor, Divine Power, Spell Turning, Arcane Sight, Owl’s Wisdom, Protection From Good
Unlike most dragons, Shadowfangs prefer to use a claw instead of his bite for making single attacks. This is a habit he’s adopted after he became a vampire and gained his energy drain attack.
Note!
Shadow Fangs has the Vampiric Dragon-template from Draconomicon, not the Vampire-template from the Monster Manual.
Vampiric Great Wyrm Shadowdragon / Shadow Dancer 10
Gargantuan Undead (Extraplanar)
Hit Dice: 48d12+180 (573 hp)
Initiative: +10 (+6 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 80 ft., fly 150 ft. (average)
AC: 65 (-4 size, +6 Dex, +44 natural, +5 deflection, +4 Mage Armor)(touch 17, flatfooted 55)
Base attack/grapple: +45/+67
Attack: Claw +55 melee (4d6+12+energy drain, 19-20/x2),
Full attack: Bite +56 melee (4d8+14, 19-20/x2), 2 claws +56 melee (4d6+12+energy drain, 19-20/x2), 2 wings +55 melee (2d8+7), tailslap +55 melee (4d6+21)
Face/Reach: 20 ft./15 ft. (20 ft. with bite)
Special Attacks: Blood Drain, Breath Weapon, Charm, Create Spawn, Crush, Domination, Energy Drain, Frightful Presence, Spell-Like Abilities, Spells, Summon Shadow, Tail Sweep
Special Qualities: Dragon Traits, Undead Traits, Vampire Traits, Shadow Blend, Create Shadows, Shadowdancer abilities, Damage Reduction 20/magic, Fast Healing 5, Cold and Fire Resistance 20, Turn Resistance +4,
Saves: Fortitude +31, Reflex +41, Will +42
Abilities: Str 38, Dex 22, Con -, Int 38, Wis 37, Cha 49
Skills: Bluff +78, Climb +20, Concentration +60, Decipher Script +64 Diplomacy +64, Hide +56, Intimidate +64, Jump +54, Knowledge (Arcana) +55, Knowledge (Religion) +55, Knowledge (Planes) +55, Knowledge (Nature) +55, Listen +67, Move Silently +54, Perform (Dance) +63, Search +73, Sense Motive +60, Sleight of Hand +51, Spellcraft +38, Spot +67, Use Magic Device +60 (+68 for activating scrolls)
Feats: Alertness, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Multi-attack, Improved Multi-attack, Snatch, Improved Snatch, Improved Manoeuvrability x2, Improved SR x2, Improved Natural Armor, Quicken Super-natural Ability (Shadow Jump), Power Attack, Spell Knowledge, Ability Focus (Breath Weapon), Ability Focus (Frightful Presence), Weapon Focus (Bite), Weapon Focus (Claws), Improved Critical (Claws), Extend Spell, Mobility, Great Fortitude
Climate/Terrain: Plane of Shadow
Challenge Rating: 37
Treasure: Triple standard (but see Possessions)
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Possessions: Shadowfangs wears a ring on each of his front paws; a Ring of Protection +5 and a Ring of Resistance +5. Around his neck he wears a massive gold chain, with a giant black onyx pendant. The necklace is in fact an epic magic item, granting him a +8 enhancement bonus to charisma. (GP-value: 680.000, including 15.000gp for the gold chain and 25.000gp for the onyx gem.)
In addition to this comes his actual draconic hoard; consisting largely of gems and coins, with a few magical “trophies” from former victims, which has a total worth of 550.000gp.
Breath Weapon: Shadowfangs’ breath weapon is a 60 ft. cone of smoky, billowing shadows with an energy drain effect. All creatures caught in the cone gain 8 negative levels. A DC 55 reflex save reduces the number of negative levels to 4.
Create Shadows (su): Three times per day, Shadowfangs can conjure a mass of leaping shadows to a radius of 100 ft. and a duration of 1 hour. All normal and magical light sources are negated within this radius. All creatures within the area gain a +4 circumstance bonus to their Hide checks. Shadowfangs and other creatures from the Plane of Shadow gain total concealment within the shadows, though they can move and act normally. Their attacks gain a +2 bonus and deny their targets Dex to AC, because they are considered invisible.
Frightful Presence: Will DC 55 negates the effect.
Shadow Blend: In any condition other than full daylight, Shadowfangs can disappear into the shadows, gaining full concealment. Artificial illumination does not negate this ability, but a Daylight spell can.
Shadowdancer abilities: Shadowfangs has gained the following abilities from the Shadowdancer prestige class: Evasion, Improved Evasion, Hide In Plain Sight, Uncanny Dodge, Improved Uncanny Dodge, Shadow Jump 160 ft., Defensive Roll, Slippery Mind, Shadow Illusion. See the Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 195.
Spell-Like Abilities: Mirror Image 3/day, Non-detection 3/day, Dimension Door 2/day, Shadow Walk 1/day
Skills: Vampiric Dragons have +8 racial bonus to Bluff, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive and Spot checks.
Tail Sweep: 40 ft. radius, 2d8+21.
Vampire Traits: Shadowfangs, like all vampiric dragons, are slowed and can make only a single standard action or move action each turn, if exposed to sunlight. Driving a stake through his heart would destroy him instantly, but you’d need a pretty big stake…
He can not enter a home uninvited, but he might easily smash the house and then pick through the rubble for his victims.
Unlike normal vampires, Shadowfangs (and other vampiric dragons) are not injured by immersion in water, and he can freely cross running water. Nor does garlic or mirrors have any negative effect on him. Even so, there isn’t a single mirror to be found in his lair… He’s learned to cast Scry using a fountain of unholy water as focus (like an evil cleric), instead of the silver mirror normally used by arcane casters.
Spells: Shadowfangs casts spells as a level 17 sorcerer. As a shadowdragon he also has access to spells from the cleric spell-list, and from the Chaos, Evil and Trickery domains. Some of his known spells have been selected from those lists.
Spells per day: 6/11/11/11/10/10/10/10/8
Spells known:
Level 0: Detect Magic, Arcane Mark, Guidance, Prestidigitation, Ghost Sound, Open/Close, Mage Hand, Mending, Light
Level 1: Divine Favor, Protection from Good, Mage Armor, Identify, Shield
Level 2: Cat’s Grace, Invisibility, Owl’s Wisdom, Razorfangs*, Throw Voice
Level 3: Animate Dead, Arcane Sight, Deeper Darkness, Haste
Level 4: Dispelling Breath*, Divine Power, Rebuking Breath*, Wingbind*
Level 5: Draconic Polymorph*, Harm, Superior Magic Fang*, Teleport
Level 6: Analyze Dweomer, Antilife Shell, Antimagic Field
Level 7: Greater Scry, Hiss of Sleep*, Plane Shift, Spell Turning
Level 8: Enervating Breath, Mind Blanc, Trap the Soul
Description & Tactics
Shadowfangs didn’t grow to such great age by being reckless. His lair, well hidden on the Plane of Shadow, is full of traps, wards and undead guards. He makes sure to have Mage Armor cast on him at all times.
If he has the time to prepare for combat, Shadowfangs will cast the following spells on himself:
Haste (extended), Superior Magic Fang, Cat’s Grace, Razorfang, Divine Favor, Divine Power, Spell Turning, Arcane Sight, Owl’s Wisdom, Protection From Good
Unlike most dragons, Shadowfangs prefer to use a claw instead of his bite for making single attacks. This is a habit he’s adopted after he became a vampire and gained his energy drain attack.
Note!
Shadow Fangs has the Vampiric Dragon-template from Draconomicon, not the Vampire-template from the Monster Manual.
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Jolly Giant
First Post
I can't believe I've been an EN-World regular for this long and not realized before how many cool threads there are her in Roges gallery!
I'm starting to get familiar with the forum now though, and I'm finding out how things work here. How it's customary to stick to one contributor per thread, f. ex... So please just ignore my ramblings in the earliest posts, ok?
The monsters and NPCs I'm posting here has either been used or will shortly be used IMC, and since I'll very likely be the only one to post monsters/NPCs here I guess I should give you a brief summary of the campaign so far.
We started it with level 10 evil PCs, since we'd played a low of low/mid-level good-guy campaigns and wanted to try something different. The party started out as elite crewmembers on a pirateship, but are now sailing the cosmos in their very own flying, planeshifting leviathan of a ship. The crew consist of 130 kobolds, goblinoids, orcs, ogres, minotaurs and assorted bad guys, and have their very own Prc: Crew of Captain Karu. (I won't give you the abreviation, for fear of offending Eric's grandma! )
The captain started out as a human barbarian/rogue/ravager, but has steadily become more and more vile and gruesome. He joined an order of blackguards for a while (now he's more like their protector!), before he became a warrior of darkness (bovd). He conducted a massive sacrificial ceremony (bovd rules), at the end of which he was granted his once-in-a-lifetime-wish-from-God: He became a half-fiend! ...and the rest of the party gained the fiendish template, for good measure. He's now among Erythnul's most powerful servants.
The ships 'medic' is a (now fiendish) dwarven cleric of Nerull/hierophant. He's taken the feats, spent the money, time and XP and built his phylactery; he's become a lich. After much questing, he's finally discovered the secret behind becoming a demi-lich, and has even made his first two soul-gems.
They have a (fiendish) grey-elf shipmage (converted AD&D wizard kit), currently involved in a complicated, x-rated affair with a succubus...
Their's a drow (not fiendish, he joined after they all got templated) rogue/shadowdancer/void incarnate, on the run from his house's mistress...
Finally, their's my girlfriends PC; a (fiendish) human sorceress/dragon disciple/dragon mystic (from Dragon Mag). She's grown to size huge by now, and is expected to LAY EGGS in a few weeks time. The father is a red great wyrm...
The campaign is currently revolving around some prophecies from the dawn of time, about an unusual group of evil characters who in their very diversity inspire the major forces of evil to lay aside their differences for a while, and instead launch a massive attack against the forces of good. The party has a lot in common with the characters mentioned in the prophecies, which means that a number of VERY powerful entities (both good and evil!) are starting to take an active interest in their affairs...
I'm starting to get familiar with the forum now though, and I'm finding out how things work here. How it's customary to stick to one contributor per thread, f. ex... So please just ignore my ramblings in the earliest posts, ok?
The monsters and NPCs I'm posting here has either been used or will shortly be used IMC, and since I'll very likely be the only one to post monsters/NPCs here I guess I should give you a brief summary of the campaign so far.
We started it with level 10 evil PCs, since we'd played a low of low/mid-level good-guy campaigns and wanted to try something different. The party started out as elite crewmembers on a pirateship, but are now sailing the cosmos in their very own flying, planeshifting leviathan of a ship. The crew consist of 130 kobolds, goblinoids, orcs, ogres, minotaurs and assorted bad guys, and have their very own Prc: Crew of Captain Karu. (I won't give you the abreviation, for fear of offending Eric's grandma!
)The captain started out as a human barbarian/rogue/ravager, but has steadily become more and more vile and gruesome. He joined an order of blackguards for a while (now he's more like their protector!), before he became a warrior of darkness (bovd). He conducted a massive sacrificial ceremony (bovd rules), at the end of which he was granted his once-in-a-lifetime-wish-from-God: He became a half-fiend! ...and the rest of the party gained the fiendish template, for good measure. He's now among Erythnul's most powerful servants.
The ships 'medic' is a (now fiendish) dwarven cleric of Nerull/hierophant. He's taken the feats, spent the money, time and XP and built his phylactery; he's become a lich. After much questing, he's finally discovered the secret behind becoming a demi-lich, and has even made his first two soul-gems.
They have a (fiendish) grey-elf shipmage (converted AD&D wizard kit), currently involved in a complicated, x-rated affair with a succubus...
Their's a drow (not fiendish, he joined after they all got templated) rogue/shadowdancer/void incarnate, on the run from his house's mistress...
Finally, their's my girlfriends PC; a (fiendish) human sorceress/dragon disciple/dragon mystic (from Dragon Mag). She's grown to size huge by now, and is expected to LAY EGGS in a few weeks time. The father is a red great wyrm...
The campaign is currently revolving around some prophecies from the dawn of time, about an unusual group of evil characters who in their very diversity inspire the major forces of evil to lay aside their differences for a while, and instead launch a massive attack against the forces of good. The party has a lot in common with the characters mentioned in the prophecies, which means that a number of VERY powerful entities (both good and evil!) are starting to take an active interest in their affairs...
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Jolly Giant
First Post
Oops, I forgot one little detail about the PCs: They recently KILLED a minor deity and now they're all divine rank 0!
The deity in question was Maleficia, known as The Mother of Hags and as The Queen of Curses (divine rank 5). Maybe I'll post her here too.
But first; another one of Lolth's little friends...
The deity in question was Maleficia, known as The Mother of Hags and as The Queen of Curses (divine rank 5). Maybe I'll post her here too.
But first; another one of Lolth's little friends...
Jolly Giant
First Post
Thriffix
Advanced Fiendish Feral Colossal Monstrous Spider
Colossal Magical Beast (Evil, Extraplanar)
Hit Dice: 60d10+360 (960 hp)
Initiative: +6 (+1 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 40 ft., climb 20 ft.
AC: 21 (-8 size, +1 Dex, +18 natural)
Base attack/grapple: +45/+73
Attack: Bite +52 melee (8d6+21+poison, 19-20/x2)
Full attack: Bite +52 melee (8d6+21+poison, 19-20/x2), 2 claws +50 melee (6d6+7, 19-20/x2)
Face/Reach: 40 ft./30 ft.
Special Attacks: Smite Good, Improved Grab, Poison, Pounce, Rake, Rend, Web
Special Qualities: Damage Reduction 10/magic, Darkvision 120 ft., Fast Healing 5, Maximum Hitpoints, Cold and Fire Resistance 10, SR31, Tremorsense
Saves: Fortitude +37, Reflex +21, Will +23
Abilities: Str 39, Dex 13, Con 20, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 2
Skills: Climb +22*, Hide -11*, Listen +1, Move Silently +5*, Spot +1
Feats: Improved Initiative, Multi-attack, Improved SR x3, Weapon Focus (Bite), Weapon Focus (Claws), Weapon Focus (Web), Improved Critical (Bite), Improved Critical (Claws), Virulent Poison, Deadly Poison, Ability Focus (Poison), Ability Focus (Web), Improved Natural Attack (Bite), Improved Natural Attack (Claws), Improved Toughness, Improved Web, Fling Enemy, Multigrab, Iron Will
Climate/Terrain: Lolth’s Realm (The Abyss)
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 29
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Possessions/treasure: Thriffix really has no possessions, but in the Arachnid Menagerie lays the remains of many former victims, and there are plenty of valuable items littering the ground there. Of course, finding what was once a magical fullplate armor shredded like cheap parchment can be unnerving. Finding a powerful magic greatsword isn’t that bad, until you stop to wonder what happened to its former owner…
Pounce: Thriffix can make a full attack after a charge.
Rake: If Thriffix holds an opponent in her front claws she can make two more claw attacks with her second pair of legs.
Rend: If Thriffix hits an opponent with both claws she rends him, dealing an additional 12d6+14 damage.
Smite Good: Once per day Thriffix can make one normal melee attack against a good creature and deal +60 points of damage.
Maximum Hitpoints: Perhaps a tiny bit of Lolth’s divine essence got transferred to Thriffix when she was created, or maybe not. Either way, Thriffix has the maximum Hitpoints possible for her hit dice.
Poison: Initial damage 2d8 STR, secondary damage 4d8 STR. Fortitude DC 49 negates.
Tremorsense: Thriffix can sense any creature touching the ground in a 60 ft. radius from her, or over any distance if the tremors are transferred via her webs.
Web: Eight times per day Thriffix can shoot out a sticky 20 ft. radius web as a standard action. This functions like a net-attack (+31 on the attack roll); with a 10 ft. range increment and maximum range 50 ft. The web has 20 hp/5 ft. square and damage reduction 5/-. To get free from the web an entangled creature must either make a DC 49 escape artist check or break the web with a DC 53 strength check.
A single strand is strong enough to hold two colossal creatures. Thriffix can move along her own webs at her climb speed without getting entangled.
Skills: Thriffix has a +8 racial bonus to climb checks, and can always choose to take 10 on climb checks. She has a +4 racial bonus to hide and move silently checks, or a +8 bonus if making those checks while in her webs.
Description & Tactics
Thriffix’s is one of Lolth’s favorite pets. She’s the biggest, baddest spider in a realm that’s chock full of big, bad spiders. Her body is pitch black with no markings, and is covered with thick, coarse hairs. Only her multi-faceted eyes seem to reflect any light at all.
Her fangs are huge, even for a spider of her size, and have some nasty-looking serrations. A vile, greenish-yellow venom seeps constantly from each of them. Each of her eight long, spindly legs end in needle-sharp, piercing claws. The claws, like her fangs, are serrated and seem to big even for her.
Her lair is in a labyrinthine network of caves, tunnels, chasms and gorges within Lolth’s own realm. All sorts of nasty spiders can be found there, from tiny black widows to… Well, to Thriffix, basically! Lolth refers to the place as her ‘Arachnid Menagerie’, and one of her favorite ways of punishing those that have angered her is to throw them in there for her pets to enjoy.
Lolth has taken advantage of the divinely morphic trait of the Abyss to limit the number of spells that function within the menagerie. It would completely spoil her fun if victims could just teleport out of it or fly over the heads of its denizens, so no spells with the teleport descriptor function within the menagerie. Nor does spells that affect movement in any way; such as expeditious retreat, spiderclimb, haste, airwalk, freedom of movement etc. Spells that would give you a new form of movement (climb, levitate, fly, swim or even burrow) or grants a bonus to climb or swim checks, likewise doesn’t work. What can I say; Lolth’s evil, and when she punishes someone she makes sure they suffer!
A clever bard can probably tell you an epic or even sing you ballad of legendary warriors that has survived long enough to find a way out of the Menagerie, but then bards will tell you anything. If somebody did manage to battle (or sneak!) their way through it; Lolth, being the chaotic deity that she is, would be liable to do anything from striking them dead for spoiling her fun, to rewarding them for their achievement.
Thriffix’s perhaps greatest strength in combat, besides her extremely potent venom, is grappling. Against a single opponent she’ll try to grab him with her fangs, dealing automatic bite damage each round while clawing him with her two front claws. She’ll initiate combat with a web attack. Whether that’s successful or not, she’ll follow that up with a charging pounce.
Against a group of opponents she’ll first try to entangle as many victims as possible in her web, and then pounce on any that escaped the web. If more than one enemy escapes her web, she’ll grab one with her fangs and fling him at another (see page 34 of Savage Species for specific rules). Those caught in the web, she’ll pin to the ground with her claws. She can hold up to four huge or smaller opponents at the time, keeping one claw on each and biting whoever struggles the hardest to get loose.
Thriffix's natural weapons are treated as magical weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Design notes:
I might have stretched the rules a bit with Thriffix, letting her have an INT-score. Minimum 3 INT, the fiendish template says, but the template wasn’t really intended for vermin. But then this no ordinary spider, Thriffix is after all a unique creation of Lolth’s.
Once I’d decided to give her an INT-score, I figured the best way to handle her was to treat her as a magical beast all the way. She’s gained skills and feats as a magical beast, not vermin, but she’s lost the Mindless trait vermin normally has. After all, she can’t be mindless if she has an INT-score!
Determining her CR was tricky, to say the least. Vermin don’t have feats, but as a magical beast Thriffix has gotten the appropriate amount for her HD, and that meant I couldn’t just follow the basic CR-calculation rules.
The enormous gap between her attack bonus and AC also concerned me, and her damage reduction is worth nothing against high-level characters. What party in the high twenties doesn’t have magic weapons? I mean, even a wizard (of a level appropriate for Thriffix’s CR) can borrow the fighter’s back-up waraxe and have a very good chance of hitting her. Her fast healing isn’t worth much at that level either. I thought about various ways of increasing her AC, but they all felt distinctly cheesy to me. That’s why I decided to give her a tiny spark of divinity instead and gave her maximum hit points.
Though she hasn’t yet been playtested, I’m guessing her extremely low AC (for her CR) might just help make her memorable. On the other hand I didn’t want her to be killed half-way through the first round of combat either, and with an AC like Thriffix’s enormous amounts of HP is the only solution.
Of course, giving her maximum HP didn’t exactly make her CR easier to calculate… I eventually gave up my calculations, and just gave it an “educated guess”… I set it to 29, maybe a little too high, but I would rather have it a little too high than too low. I don't want to cause a TPK just because I can't calculate CR properly!
Advanced Fiendish Feral Colossal Monstrous Spider
Colossal Magical Beast (Evil, Extraplanar)
Hit Dice: 60d10+360 (960 hp)
Initiative: +6 (+1 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative)
Speed: 40 ft., climb 20 ft.
AC: 21 (-8 size, +1 Dex, +18 natural)
Base attack/grapple: +45/+73
Attack: Bite +52 melee (8d6+21+poison, 19-20/x2)
Full attack: Bite +52 melee (8d6+21+poison, 19-20/x2), 2 claws +50 melee (6d6+7, 19-20/x2)
Face/Reach: 40 ft./30 ft.
Special Attacks: Smite Good, Improved Grab, Poison, Pounce, Rake, Rend, Web
Special Qualities: Damage Reduction 10/magic, Darkvision 120 ft., Fast Healing 5, Maximum Hitpoints, Cold and Fire Resistance 10, SR31, Tremorsense
Saves: Fortitude +37, Reflex +21, Will +23
Abilities: Str 39, Dex 13, Con 20, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 2
Skills: Climb +22*, Hide -11*, Listen +1, Move Silently +5*, Spot +1
Feats: Improved Initiative, Multi-attack, Improved SR x3, Weapon Focus (Bite), Weapon Focus (Claws), Weapon Focus (Web), Improved Critical (Bite), Improved Critical (Claws), Virulent Poison, Deadly Poison, Ability Focus (Poison), Ability Focus (Web), Improved Natural Attack (Bite), Improved Natural Attack (Claws), Improved Toughness, Improved Web, Fling Enemy, Multigrab, Iron Will
Climate/Terrain: Lolth’s Realm (The Abyss)
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 29
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Possessions/treasure: Thriffix really has no possessions, but in the Arachnid Menagerie lays the remains of many former victims, and there are plenty of valuable items littering the ground there. Of course, finding what was once a magical fullplate armor shredded like cheap parchment can be unnerving. Finding a powerful magic greatsword isn’t that bad, until you stop to wonder what happened to its former owner…
Pounce: Thriffix can make a full attack after a charge.
Rake: If Thriffix holds an opponent in her front claws she can make two more claw attacks with her second pair of legs.
Rend: If Thriffix hits an opponent with both claws she rends him, dealing an additional 12d6+14 damage.
Smite Good: Once per day Thriffix can make one normal melee attack against a good creature and deal +60 points of damage.
Maximum Hitpoints: Perhaps a tiny bit of Lolth’s divine essence got transferred to Thriffix when she was created, or maybe not. Either way, Thriffix has the maximum Hitpoints possible for her hit dice.
Poison: Initial damage 2d8 STR, secondary damage 4d8 STR. Fortitude DC 49 negates.
Tremorsense: Thriffix can sense any creature touching the ground in a 60 ft. radius from her, or over any distance if the tremors are transferred via her webs.
Web: Eight times per day Thriffix can shoot out a sticky 20 ft. radius web as a standard action. This functions like a net-attack (+31 on the attack roll); with a 10 ft. range increment and maximum range 50 ft. The web has 20 hp/5 ft. square and damage reduction 5/-. To get free from the web an entangled creature must either make a DC 49 escape artist check or break the web with a DC 53 strength check.
A single strand is strong enough to hold two colossal creatures. Thriffix can move along her own webs at her climb speed without getting entangled.
Skills: Thriffix has a +8 racial bonus to climb checks, and can always choose to take 10 on climb checks. She has a +4 racial bonus to hide and move silently checks, or a +8 bonus if making those checks while in her webs.
Description & Tactics
Thriffix’s is one of Lolth’s favorite pets. She’s the biggest, baddest spider in a realm that’s chock full of big, bad spiders. Her body is pitch black with no markings, and is covered with thick, coarse hairs. Only her multi-faceted eyes seem to reflect any light at all.
Her fangs are huge, even for a spider of her size, and have some nasty-looking serrations. A vile, greenish-yellow venom seeps constantly from each of them. Each of her eight long, spindly legs end in needle-sharp, piercing claws. The claws, like her fangs, are serrated and seem to big even for her.
Her lair is in a labyrinthine network of caves, tunnels, chasms and gorges within Lolth’s own realm. All sorts of nasty spiders can be found there, from tiny black widows to… Well, to Thriffix, basically! Lolth refers to the place as her ‘Arachnid Menagerie’, and one of her favorite ways of punishing those that have angered her is to throw them in there for her pets to enjoy.
Lolth has taken advantage of the divinely morphic trait of the Abyss to limit the number of spells that function within the menagerie. It would completely spoil her fun if victims could just teleport out of it or fly over the heads of its denizens, so no spells with the teleport descriptor function within the menagerie. Nor does spells that affect movement in any way; such as expeditious retreat, spiderclimb, haste, airwalk, freedom of movement etc. Spells that would give you a new form of movement (climb, levitate, fly, swim or even burrow) or grants a bonus to climb or swim checks, likewise doesn’t work. What can I say; Lolth’s evil, and when she punishes someone she makes sure they suffer!
A clever bard can probably tell you an epic or even sing you ballad of legendary warriors that has survived long enough to find a way out of the Menagerie, but then bards will tell you anything. If somebody did manage to battle (or sneak!) their way through it; Lolth, being the chaotic deity that she is, would be liable to do anything from striking them dead for spoiling her fun, to rewarding them for their achievement.
Thriffix’s perhaps greatest strength in combat, besides her extremely potent venom, is grappling. Against a single opponent she’ll try to grab him with her fangs, dealing automatic bite damage each round while clawing him with her two front claws. She’ll initiate combat with a web attack. Whether that’s successful or not, she’ll follow that up with a charging pounce.
Against a group of opponents she’ll first try to entangle as many victims as possible in her web, and then pounce on any that escaped the web. If more than one enemy escapes her web, she’ll grab one with her fangs and fling him at another (see page 34 of Savage Species for specific rules). Those caught in the web, she’ll pin to the ground with her claws. She can hold up to four huge or smaller opponents at the time, keeping one claw on each and biting whoever struggles the hardest to get loose.
Thriffix's natural weapons are treated as magical weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Design notes:
I might have stretched the rules a bit with Thriffix, letting her have an INT-score. Minimum 3 INT, the fiendish template says, but the template wasn’t really intended for vermin. But then this no ordinary spider, Thriffix is after all a unique creation of Lolth’s.
Once I’d decided to give her an INT-score, I figured the best way to handle her was to treat her as a magical beast all the way. She’s gained skills and feats as a magical beast, not vermin, but she’s lost the Mindless trait vermin normally has. After all, she can’t be mindless if she has an INT-score!
Determining her CR was tricky, to say the least. Vermin don’t have feats, but as a magical beast Thriffix has gotten the appropriate amount for her HD, and that meant I couldn’t just follow the basic CR-calculation rules.
The enormous gap between her attack bonus and AC also concerned me, and her damage reduction is worth nothing against high-level characters. What party in the high twenties doesn’t have magic weapons? I mean, even a wizard (of a level appropriate for Thriffix’s CR) can borrow the fighter’s back-up waraxe and have a very good chance of hitting her. Her fast healing isn’t worth much at that level either. I thought about various ways of increasing her AC, but they all felt distinctly cheesy to me. That’s why I decided to give her a tiny spark of divinity instead and gave her maximum hit points.
Though she hasn’t yet been playtested, I’m guessing her extremely low AC (for her CR) might just help make her memorable. On the other hand I didn’t want her to be killed half-way through the first round of combat either, and with an AC like Thriffix’s enormous amounts of HP is the only solution.
Of course, giving her maximum HP didn’t exactly make her CR easier to calculate… I eventually gave up my calculations, and just gave it an “educated guess”… I set it to 29, maybe a little too high, but I would rather have it a little too high than too low. I don't want to cause a TPK just because I can't calculate CR properly!
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TroyXavier
First Post
Looks cool. I can just imagine how my players would react in running against that. (The last group I played in went nuts when I sent them against a Colossal Scorpion. Imagine if I had templated it). Hey would you mind if I posted up a couple little nasty creatures I created in this thread?
Nifft
Penguin Herder
Jolly Giant said:
I don't think spiders get any attack besides their bite. I'd give them a sting (because Shelob is cool), but never a "claw" attack. Thus, I don't think the Ferel template does very much for them.
One of my favorite templates ever is the Shadow Creature template from Manual of the Planes -- full concealment in anything but direct sunlight ensures a longer battle, since every attack has a 50% miss chance.
Hmmm, maybe an advanced Colossal Half-Fiend Shadow Spider with Rogue levels...
-- N
Jolly Giant
First Post
What I had in mind here wasn't a pincer kind of claw, more something long, hard, hooked and sharp. Something to jamb into small cracks when climbing a rock wall, or maybe skewering PCs... 
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